Nuggets beat Warriors, Grizzlies in lead

CRYING FOUL:After the Warriors complained that the Nuggets played dirty, Denver forward Kenneth Faried said ‘If you can’t stand the physicality, you shouldn’t be playing’

AP, DENVER, COLORADO

Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Clippers dunks against the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 5 of their Western Conference quarter-final series at the Staples Center on Tuesday in Los Angeles, California.

Photo: AFP

Accusations of dirty play were exchanged after the Denver Nuggets beat the Golden State Warriors 107-100 on Tuesday to avoid elimination from the NBA playoffs.

Needing a win to stay alive, the Nuggets played tough basketball, with fiery forward Kenneth Faried at the center of the action. Denver cut the series deficit to 3-2, sending it back to Oakland for Game 6 today.

Also on Tuesday, the Memphis Grizzlies won 103-93 against the Los Angeles Clippers to take a 3-2 lead in their series.

Denver slowed down Golden State’s guards, jumpstarted their transition game and got under Andrew Bogut’s skin in Game 5, jumping out to a 22-point lead before weathering the Warriors’ frenetic fourth-quarter rally.

Warriors coach Mark Jackson accused the Nuggets of trying to hurt Stephen Curry, his injured sharpshooter, who was just one for seven from long range and finished with a series-low 15 points.

“Some dirty plays early,” Jackson said. “It’s playoff basketball, that’s all right. We own it, but make no mistake about it, we went up 3-1 playing hard, physical, clean basketball — not trying to hurt anybody.”

Jackson mentioned Faried setting some “great screens and some great illegal ones, too.”

“He did his job. Hey, I played with guys like that. They get paid to do that. Dale Davis, Anthony Davis, Charles Oakley. You get paid to do it. So give them credit,” Jackson said. “As an opposing coach, I see it, and I’m trying to protect my guys.”

Jackson complained about one screen in particular on Curry being “a shot at his ankle, clearly. That can’t be debated.”

“I got inside information that some people don’t like that brand of basketball and they clearly didn’t co-sign it. They wanted to let me know they have no parts in what was taking place. Let the best team win and let everybody with the exception of going down with a freak injury, let everybody leave out of here healthy. That’s not good basketball,” he added.

“It’s basketball,” Faried countered. “I try to do the little things my team needs me to do. It’s physical. If you can’t stand the physicality, you shouldn’t be playing.”

Asked about accusations he tried to hurt Curry, Faried said: “That’s intriguing because I think they were purposefully trying to hurt me every play I went for a rebound — the hits, the grab to the throat.”

Curry said there were a few plays that went overboard.

“There were a couple, man. Going through the paint minding my own business and they come out of nowhere trying to throw elbows,” he said. “I got a [target] on me, I don’t know what it is, just got to keep playing and do your thing.”

The Nuggets said they were surprised the Warriors were the ones complaining about physical play.

“I’ve taken the hardest hit in the series, Game 1 or 2, when Bogut leaned in to me on a screen and I didn’t remember what happened the rest of the game,” Denver’s Andre Iguodala said. “They kind of brought the physicality to the series and we stopped being the receivers and we’re starting to hit back a little bit, but as far as anybody trying to cheap shot, I don’t condone that myself. It’s not my game.”